Why you should know him: Only three Colorado public schools have planetariums. Fort Lupton High School is one of them, and teacher Adam McBride is the planetarium director.

Until 1976, the planetarium belonged to the Smithsonian Institute’s Natural History Museum, then was shuffled around until Fort Lupton High School teacher Jim Beaber bought it for $1,700 in 1984. McBride took over the planetarium when he joined the school staff six years ago.

By then, the aging planetarium was turning into a black hole. McBride and another teacher updated it and decided to build a version of the sophisticated digital projectors used at major institutions. Those systems cost around $1.2 million. McBride’s annual budget is $2,300.

Q: How do you build a $1.2 million digital projector system on $2,300?

A: You don’t. The total cost was $4,800. I used my entire budget for 2008-2009 on a computer, and my budget for 2009-2010 on a projector, and found someone who gave us the mirrors we needed.

Q: What’s the reaction when people find out that Fort Lupton High School has a pretty good planetarium?

A: When I mention that I run a planetarium, people are, like, ‘Wow! You have a planetarium? At your high school?’ Then they want to know how many other schools have ’em, and when I say there’s only two or three in Colorado, they’re amazed. Sometimes people joke and ask when the Pink Floyd laser show is.

Q: Is your planetarium open to the public?

A: Mostly, I get students from our district, but outsiders are welcome, although it’s rare that I get a call from the outside world. Once in a while, I get a church group or someone who wants to bring in a group of kids. I’m willing to accommodate them as long as they can work with my schedule, because I teach six classes a day. I always think about opening it up to the public just to see who’d show up.